Where do you belong?

I've been thinking a lot about veterans who are homeless, since hearing of Darren Greenfield, an army veteran who sadly died on the streets of Edinburgh last month. Darren, who was known for sitting at the top of the escalators of Waverley station, was offered support by veteran's charities, but chose to sleep rough.

Since delivering Shoulder to Shoulder Erskine (S2S Erskine) over the past three and a half years, many veterans (22%) supported by the project have been either sofa surfing or are living in temporary housing or veterans’ supported accommodation. Mentors have often supported veterans moving from one place to another, even permanent housing, but at times still not feeling as though they belong.

Add anxiety, depression or PTSD and this can make for a very lonely veteran who is socially isolated, alone in the home and often confined to one room. It doesn't help that many veterans tell me they have lost contact with family and friends and have no social circle. Just being able to talk with someone who is happy to listen helps them through the lonely days.

But it goes beyond that. It's about connecting with people; about being able to join in and feeling you belong to a community.

Since 2014, S2S Erskine has been supporting veterans to feel less anxious, develop conversation, new friendships, social circles and volunteer in their local communities: helping them to belong. One veterans’ accommodation I link in with is Scottish Veterans Residences (SVR) Bellrock Close in Glasgow. Along with the support of SVR, staff felt that Kevin, an ex-army veteran could also benefit from a TimeBank mentor.

At first, Kevin found his transition to Bellrock Close difficult. He felt lost, with no direction or focus. I matched him with Tim, a volunteer mentor. They met twice a month for nine months and within this time Tim helped ease Kevin into conversation, feel less anxious and set goals to try new activities. Tim supported Kevin to develop new relationships and interview skills and Kevin started to volunteer at the café within Bellrock Close.

He says: "My confidence and self-esteem was low, and meeting new people was difficult. Tim supported me with setting goals to focus my days. At first we kept activities local, such a as swimming at the local leisure centre and then art classes. My confidence grew and I was able to chat with more people about my activities. We built up to going into town and I became more confident using public transport. Tim is easy to talk with, he's knowledgeable, a good lad. I now feel like I have purpose and look forward to life again.”

If you know of someone who could benefit from a mentor, we are here to help. Please take a look at the Shoulder to Shoulder Erskine project here. You can call Ali, the project co-ordinator, on 07437 437867 or email her at ali@timebank.org.uk